Humboldt crash victim misidentified: Ministry of Justice

People embraced each other, crying. "There's uncles and moms and dads waiting to hear whether their sons and nephews are OK".

The tragedy brought to mind an accident in 1986, when the Swift Current Broncos team bus slid off an icy highway and crashed in late December, killing four players.

"We were a family", a former Broncos player, Daigon Elmy, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"He was just a hardworking guy", said Jackson Ross.

Canadian police said they could not yet confirm the identity of the victims or whether they were players or coaches.

Humboldt paster Sean Brandow said he was on his way to the Broncos game Friday and arrived at the scene right after the collision. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said it's too early to state a cause for the crash. Authorities have yet to identify the victims.

Police said a lot of issues remained to be investigated in the bus crash, including weather conditions at the time and any mechanical issues with the vehicles. Police have not said whether or not the driver was impaired. He was detained initially but is not now in custody and his case is not now being investigated as a criminal investigation. It says an investigation is taking place.

"It's a frightful accident, my God, " said Darren Opp, president of the Nipawin Hawks hockey team. The teams played a lengthy game Wednesday that Nipawin won 6-5 in three overtimes in Humboldt, leaving Nipawin with a 3-1 series lead.

Muench said it will take a long time for Humboldt to recover. Families who provide homes for players are a large part of junior hockey in Canada. Two of them are fighting for their lives.

The site confirmed that play-by-play announcer Tyler Bieber and Brody Hinz were killed.

As a community vigil in the Broncos' Edgar Petersen Arena, was ongoing, The Sports Network (TSN) broadcaster Brian Munz urged his followers to leave their hockey sticks out on porches, front and back doors, gaining inspiration from a high school friend who did the same. The team includes 24 players, ages ranging from 16 to 21. RCMP is working with partner agencies to notify and support families and has not yet released information about who was killed or injured. "The other fourteen people were sent to hospitals with a variety of injuries; three of these people have injuries that are critical in nature".

By Sunday morning, a GoFundMe page for the players and their families had raised more than $3.2 million, the result of almost 50,000 donations.

"The game of hockey has given me many gifts of friendship that will last a lifetime".

Members of the National Hockey League expressed sadness over the news.

A community has come together following the bus crash tragedy that left 15 people dead, including members of a western Canada youth hockey team.

Cam Talbot, a goalie for the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League, tweeted: "After all the hours spent on a bus with the boys over the years this one really hits home. It's hard to put into words how it's affected this community".

"I can't imagine being the parent or the wife or the kids at home going through something like this", Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said at a press conference.

US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Just spoke to @JustinTrudeau to pay my highest respect and condolences to the families of the awful Humboldt Team tragedy".